Canada’s long history of racism is still affecting youth today
By Kathleen Dolan (Member, The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health)
Environmental racism is a term that may be unfamiliar to many Canadians. However, for others, it remains an issue that they have dealt with their entire lives. Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate exposure of hazardous waste sites to marginalized neighbourhoods. Racial and ethnic background, along with socioeconomic status, play an important component for those affected by this injustice. Environmental racism also includes racial discrimination that takes place when creating environmental policies. Consequently, the heavy exposure from toxic waste, garbage dumps, and other air, water, or soil pollutants lead to many adverse and preventable health issues.
Before we can understand why there is such a prevalence of environmental racism in Canada, we must consider the long and brutal history that predominantly Black and Indigenous communities have faced. Throughout history, marginalized populations have been displaced, relocated, and discriminated against by a lack of environmental regulation and policy. In many instances, corporations are manufacturing products close to lower socioeconomic and minority communities and releasing their toxic by-products into the surrounding environment. You may be surprised to hear that provinces as small as Nova Scotia have had long-term problems, dating back decades when considering environmental inequity.
A map of Nova Scotian communities affected by environmental racism from the documentary “There’s Something in the Water” directed by Ellen Page, originally written by Ingrid Waldron. https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/environment/ellen-page-the-more-we-filmed-the-more-incredible-women-we-met/
The youth of these communities are particularly at risk due to their extreme vulnerability to these hazardous materials. As fetuses and children are still growing and going through critical developmental stages, environmental toxin exposure leads to much higher disease, disability, and death rates. Children are unique as they breathe more air, eat more, and drink more water per body weight than adults, making them more likely to consume higher levels of environmental contaminants. Their bodies are also unable to break down and filter out pollutants, leading to higher rates of health issues such as asthma, heavy metal poisoning, and obesity. As they are still young, long-term exposure allows these toxins to build up in the body, resulting in adverse health conditions in adolescence and adulthood. The exposure to compounds such as methyl mercury, furans, dioxin, and other harsh elements may even lead to premature death. The Canadian Pediatric Society has excellent resources for monitoring a child’s development to ensure that children are reaching milestones and identifying whether there may be any concerns.
The Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek, also known as the Grassy Narrows First Nations community in Ontario, has experienced some of the worst environmental racism in Canadian history. In the 1960s, a chlor-alkali plant dumped 10,000 kilograms of mercury into the waters of this community, having cascading effects to this day. This environmental contamination devastated and destroyed the town, which had strong cultural and economic ties with this body of water. Children and adults have been recorded as having higher mercury rates in their bodies, affecting neurological and immune development in children. The mercury contamination has caused health issues such as numbness, coordination problems, loss of vision, learning disabilities, and anxiety in the Grassy Narrows children. After authorities abandoned this community and attempted to hide this disaster from the rest of the country, the youth are fighting back for environmental justice. They are fighting for what they deserve, to restore their cultural identity, and pave a healthy path for future generations of the community.
Chemical Valley is another example of environmental racism. It is a moniker for the Sarnia-Windsor-London area in Ontario. The name is as haunting and accurate as it sounds. Home to the Aamjiwnaang First Nations, it also houses 62 industrial facilities within a 25-kilometre radius and releases millions of kilograms of toxic chemicals into the environment, some of which are banned in Canada. For children living on the reserve, 23 percent aged 5 to 16 struggle with learning and behavioural problems, 13 percent struggles with ADHD, and 27 percent suffer from skin rashes (including eczema and psoriasis). All of these incident rates remain well above national averages for Canadian children, making it hard to deny that excessive pollution and toxins in their environment play a key role.
Furthermore, community members and many researchers have also discovered that male birth rates have declined. The human sex ratio can be altered when populations are exposed to certain toxin chemicals. In this community, males are born at lower rates, and women experience more male fetus miscarriage. When male children are born, they are affected at higher rates by developmental issues and disabilities. The cultural life of the Aamjiwnaang people, including fishing, hunting, medicine gathering and ceremony, has been impacted by these environmental pollutants. The children live in a world of fear—scared to go outside, scared of hearing warning sirens, and scared of unreported chemical spills.
Unfortunately, the Grassy Narrows and Aamjiwnaang First Nations are only a small fraction of the many communities suffering from environmental injustice. There remain 61 long-term water advisories on Canadian reserves. That number does not even begin to include toxins that stay in the soil and air of these communities, nor does it account for predominantly Black, Indigenous off-reserve lower socio-economic districts across this country. We must begin to treat this like the crisis that it is. The health of Canadian youth--our future leaders--is at stake.
To learn more about environmental racism, visit the following links to access an interactive mapping of environmental racism in Nova Scotia, along with information about the communities affected.
Kathleen Dolan is a 19-year-old outdoor enthusiast in the Bachelor of Arts and Science in Health at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. She is passionate about advocating for environmental awareness, and health equity and resources amongst youth who may be from vulnerable communities or whose voices are yet to be heard.